Adding a custom background image to a Cisco IP Phone can be tricky. You can use Cisco Phone Designer or you can use the following instructions to upload backgrounds to the dedicated servers so the users can choose a background from the phone.



 

References

The original source of this article is based on a Cisco support forum response from from Martin Streule .

Important Notes

  1. The List.xml file must start with a capitol ‘L’
  2. You must have a thumbnail image as well as a background image.
  3. There can be up to 50 entries in a List file
  4. The List.xml must be done per phonetype…
  5. The tn-xxxx.png file referenced in the xml file below is the thumbnail image.
  6. This can be used for CUCM or CUCME.
  7. CUCME will require you to use a separate tftp server or create directories in the router’s flash

 

 

Create backgroung image files


Create two .png images one for the thumbnail and one for the real image.

  • For best results, reduce the colour palette of an image to 12-bit (4096 colors) when you create a PNG file.
  • “tn-xxxx.png” is the thumbnail image
  • “xxxx.png” is the “real” image
  • Thumbnail and real image sizes must be exact to specs below

 

 

Create a “List.xml” file

 

Here is the format of the List.xml file for two separate example backgrounds … logo and mountain.

 

 

<CiscoIPPhoneImageList>

<ImageItem Image=”TFTP:Desktops/320x212x12/tn-logo.png” URL=”TFTP:Desktops/320x212x12/logo.png”/>

<ImageItem Image=”TFTP:Desktops/320x212x12/tn-mountain.png” URL=”TFTP:Desktops/320x212x12/mountain.png”/>

</CiscoIPPhoneImageList>

 

 

 

Phone image specifics

 

The following image sizes and tftp directories should be used for each specific phone type.

 

7941 / 7961

Full size image— 320 pixels (width) X 196 pixels (height).

Thumbnail image— 80 pixels (width) X 49 pixels (height).

Directory “Desktops/320x196x4″

 

 

7942 / 7962

Full size image—320 pixels (width) X 196 pixels (height).

Thumbnail image—80 pixels (width) X 49 pixels (height).

Directory “/Desktops/320x196x4″

 

 

7945 / 7965

Full size image—320 pixels (width) X 212 pixels (height).

Thumbnail image—80 pixels (width) X 53 pixels (height).

Directory “/Desktops/320x212x16″

 

7970 / 7971

Full size image—320 pixels (width) X 212 pixels (height).

Thumbnail image—80 pixels (width) X 53 pixels (height).

Directory “Desktops/320x212x12″

 

 

7975

Full size image—320 pixels (width) X 216 pixels (height).

Thumbnail image—80 pixels (width) X 53 pixels (height).

Directory “/Desktops/320x216x16″

 

 

Upload the files to the TFTP Server

 

  • Upload the file “List.xml” to the tftp folder matching the phone directory above
  • Upload the tn-xxxx.png to the folder matching the phone directory above
  • Upload the xxxx.png to the folder matching the phone directory  above
  • For example, if the phone were a 7971, the directory would be “Desktops/320x212x12″.

 

TFTP Upload Instructions

 

  1. Navigate to the ‘Operating System Administration’ window
  2. Go to ‘Software Upgrades > TFTP File Management’
  3. Click ‘Upload File’
    • Click ‘Browse’ and then choose the file to upload
    • Enter the subdirectory in the ‘Directory’ field e.g. “Desktops/320x212x12″
    • Click ‘Upload File’


 

 

Restart tftp service

 

  • Go to ‘Cisco Serviceability’ in the upper right corner drop down box.
  • Go to Tools > Control Center ‘Feature Services’
  • Select ‘Cisco TFTP’ and Click the Restart Icon at the top of the page.

 

Restart the phone

 

  • Press the settings button
  • Press ** # **

 

 

Change the background image on the phone

  1. Choose Settings > User Preferences > Background Images.
  2. Scroll through available images and press Select to choose an image.
  3. Press Preview to see a larger view of the background image.
  4. Press Exit to return to the selection menu.
  5. Press Save to accept the new image, or press Cancel.

 

 

Troubleshooting

 

  • (You can sniff on the network to see what directory a certain phonetype is looking for).
  • If a background image just does not want to show up, it’s a good idea to browse to the phone web site and check the Console Log for failures (xml parsing, …)
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